


After the Fall

by VampirePaladin



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Post-Season/Series 03, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 19:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14063679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: Neopolitan after the fall of Beacon.





	After the Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunarium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/gifts).



Through the ruins she ran, darting from shadow to shadow. The city was still swarming with Grim. The remaining students and staff that had yet to be evacuated were still trying to search the city for the surviving civilians. Having them there was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because she could lead the Grim to them and let someone else take care of the monsters. It was a curse because she was a known associate of Roman Torchwick and there were plenty of people that would want to get revenge against her for the role she’d played in all of this.

She kept moving, hiding from Grim, human and Faunus. There were more and more humans and fewer and fewer Grim as she moved toward the evacuation point. The ruins of several buildings had been converted into barracks, a hospital, mess hall, and storage. 

Neopolitan stopped in the shadows next to a ruined bakery. She spent a moment centering and focusing herself. Then the illusion was in place, hiding her distinctive hair and eye colors, replacing both with brown. Her clothing now took on the appearance of a student’s ruined school uniform. It wasn’t the uniform of one of the Huntsman schools, but rather one of the more mundane schools.

She stepped out of the shadows then, walking casually. Being sneaky would draw more attention than walking in the open. The watchmen were focused on Grim and not on a little girl walking to the medical building. The door opened with a squeak, but the medical staff still working late into the night to stabilize the injured didn’t even bother to look at her.

Neopolitan walked past the beds of patients until she got to the doctor in the stained white jacket at the far end of the room. Around her she cloaked an illusion, anyone looking her way would just see a young woman and a doctor conversing. She drew a handgun that she’d taken from a city guard before disposing of him, her normal umbrella was too long for this type of thing. 

She pressed the barrel of the gun firmly against the doctor’s back. She watched as the man tensed up and then slowly raised his hands.

“What do you want?” There was a tremor of fear in his voice as he spoke.

Silently, she pushed him in the direction of the door with her gun. He stubbornly remained in place for a moment before she pressed again, and he caught on and began walking in the direction she wanted. They moved passed countless injured and several tired doctors and nurses without any of them given the two more than a quick glance. No one moved anywhere near close enough to shatter Neo’s illusion. 

The doctor walked ahead and when he reached the door he opened it and stepped outside. Neo pressed in the direction of the perimeter.

“You can’t be serious? The city is overrun with Grim. We’ll be torn apart.”

Neo sent a sharp kick at the back of the man’s leg, forcing him to take two steps forward. The man silently complied with her orders after that. She pressed the barrel of the gun in his back again and would use it to indicate when they were turning left or right. They took a round about path to avoid most of the Grim.

They entered an abandoned haberdashery, an assortment of stylish hats still sitting there and waiting for customers that would never come to claim them. She pushed him into the back, where a set of steps led down into the shop’s basement. 

It was illuminated by a single oil lamp. The flickering yellow light revealed boxes of supplies stacked haphazardly in a corner, dust that had been looted from both shops and the military, a table with a map of the surrounding area on it, and a portable camp stove. There was one last thing that the light revealed, and to Neopolitan this was the most important of them all, Roman Torchwick lying on a cot.

Roman’s severe injuries had been bandaged as best as Neo was capable of doing. Despite playing a medic during the festival she had limited medical abilities. He’d already bled through his dressings multiple times. Sometimes he made noises, but he hadn’t woken up since she’d carved him from the belly of the Grim that had descended on him. He’d lost so much blood in the past few days, too much blood.

“You should have said that somebody needed help,” the doctor said as he moved to Roman’s side and began treating his wounds. He barked a list of items that he’d need to Neo.

Neo just grinned and nodded, before going to retrieve the tools and supplies that the doctor would need to fix up Roman. Of course, she still had her guard up. One sign of treachery and she’d kill him and go get the next doctor.

Hours later the doctor was cleaning his hands. Roman’s bleeding had stopped, and he seemed to be sleeping now.

“That’s all I can do for him, miss,” the doctor said. “Will you let me go?”

Neo picked up her umbrella. She gave a thoughtful look for a moment before slashing the doctor’s throat with its blade. He’d been helpful, but she couldn’t use up their supplies to feed him, she refused to let him tell someone where they were hiding, and she was not going to be moving Roman until he was in better shape. The best option was to just kill the doctor.

Despite Neo’s small size, she managed to drag the doctor’s body up the steps and out of the shop. She couldn’t just leave him near where they were hiding, she knew better than that, but without additional help and the threat of being spotted by Grim, soldiers or huntsmen, she couldn’t move very fast. It took her two hours to get down to the docks to dump his body into the water. Normally she would have weighted him down with something, but she wasn’t expecting the Vale CSI to be investigating a random body anytime soon with much due diligence.

Her trip back was much faster.

“Neo,” Roman said barely above a whisper from his spot on the cot.

At the sound of him speaking on his own Neopolitan ran to his side, dropping to her knees to grasp his hand. She hadn’t cried in front of anyone in years, and she wasn’t going to cry today either, but her eyes were watering.

“I didn’t think I was going to make it. But you… you saved me.”

Neo just smiled at him.

“Sorry, this isn’t the fancy hotel I promised you.”

Neo just shook her head. He’d always showered her with expensive jewelry and clothing, anything she could ever have wanted, but all of that paled in comparison to just having him speak to her again.

Roman pushed himself up with one arm, hissing at the pain. Neo was so close to him that it didn’t take him much to cross the distance and kiss her on the lips.

“We’ll rebuild, a new criminal empire, even better than the one before,” he said when their lips parted.

Neo gave a wicked grin at the idea. As long as they were together they could rebuild. The military and the huntsmen would do their job in securing the area. The tradesmen would rebuild the buildings and infrastructure. Roman and Neo would rebuild the crime.


End file.
